The Western Desert of Egypt covers most of the land west of the Nile valley, in other words two thirds of the country. The Western Desert’s 680 650 square kilometers (262 800 square miles) are equivalent to the size of Texas or the combined area of Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, and the Czech Republic.
Yet, the Western Desert of Egypt has far more to offer than just sand. Here you will find the Wadi al-Hitan UNESCO World Heritage Site—known for its hundreds of fossils of some of the earliest forms of whale—, the four oases of the “Oasis Circle”—Bahariya, Farafra, Dakhla, and Kharga—, the secluded Siwa Oasis with its unique culture and many ancient sights, the surreal sculptures in the White Desert National Park, the enormous sand dunes of the Great Sand Sea, and the Gilf Kebir National Park, where rock art tell us about the thriving life before this mountain plateau became one of the most inhospitable places on earth.
